A Medicine for Melancholy
by Meret
Summary: A SmallvilleSpiderman the movie crossover, with Lex as the main character. It contains spoilers for the movie.


Title: A Medicine for Melancholy  
Response to Livia's Ray Bradbury title challenge  
Author: Meret  
Category: Drama, Smallville/Spiderman the Movie crossover  
Rating: R   
Disclaimer: These characters are owned by Millar Gough, the WB,   
DC Comics, Marvel Comics and Columbia Pictures. No profit or   
infringement is intended.  
Website: http://www.geocities.com/meretsv  
Email: meret118@netscape.net  
A big thank you to Hope for kindly agreeing to beta. This story was   
much improved by her wonderful insights.  
  
This takes place pre-Tempest, season one in the SV universe.  
  
  
A Medicine for Melancholy   
by Meret  
  
  
Lex had been carefully monitoring the alcohol intake. Enough to   
dull the pain, not enough to end up in the emergency room.   
Nothing ever completely dulled the pain of course, and Lex had   
tried a wide enough array of restricted substances after his mother   
died to speak authoritatively on the subject. But it seemed to be   
what Harry wanted at the moment, so Lex simply kept track of the   
bourbons he consumed without comment for now.   
  
Bourbon had been his father's drink; Harry had always preferred   
beer. He was listing a bit in his pacing, but he was still able to stay   
upright as he moved angrily around the living room, faster with   
each circuit around the room, pausing only to refill his glass. Harry   
always seemed to need to build up speed first before he could let   
go.   
  
Personally, Lex was glad Norman Osborn was dead. He hoped the   
injuries had been just as painful as they sounded too. The man   
deserved to die for his taste in interior design alone, he thought as   
he looked around. He wondered if Harry still had nightmares about   
the grotesque masks attacking him, and if he ever finally   
understood those nightmares. What was it? Did a free copy of   
"How to Emotionally Abuse Your Child" come with the first   
billion? Lex had tried to teach him, but Harry still thought if he   
could just figure out the right thing to say, the right thing to do, his   
father would finally approve of him. With Norman Osborn dead,   
Lex wasn't sure he would ever realize just how impossible that had   
been.  
  
"Motherfucker!" Harry screamed and threw his glass against the   
wall. "Why? Why did he kill him? What did my father ever do to   
that *fucking* bug?" He exploded and swept his arms across the   
server, sending crystal and amber liquid flying. He hurled a vase   
across the room into a gilded mirror, and both shattered   
spectacularly to the floor. "Why?" His enraged howls of pain made   
the word sharp and jagged in the air. He grabbed a bronze dragon   
like a baseball bat and started swinging, battering the furniture and   
walls with his rage. Finally, he gave way to tears, and Lex grabbed   
him just in time to prevent him collapsing onto broken shards of   
glass.  
  
"Come on, Harry." he said softly, supporting him over to the sofa.   
He sat down, enfolding Harry in his arms. Harry clutched Lex's   
jacket spasmodically as he shook with the force of his sobbing. Lex   
rubbed slow circles across his back, trying to soothe him as best he   
could. He offered what he wished someone had said to him, when   
his mother died "I'm here, Harry." He rocked slightly, stroking his   
hair. "You're not alone."   
  
Harry had been crying the first time Lex had seen him. Their paths   
had crossed at one of the many elite boarding schools each had   
been sent to; sent away to. Lex had never expected to like Harry;   
he was too weak for Lex to respect. It had been more a case of "the   
enemy of my enemy . . ." than any feelings of friendship that had   
prompted him to intervene. He still had too many memories of   
being bullied before he learned to take care of himself to tolerate   
anyone else being treated that way for long. Especially against   
someone who was unwilling or unable to fight back. A little pot   
placed under a certain mattress before room inspection, a   
scholarship kid pocketing money to break select noses in a rugby   
match, and Harry was left alone. Simple. Until Harry, who was   
smarter than his test scores suggested, discovered who his knight   
errant was, and Lex discovered he could like someone without   
necessarily respecting them.  
  
He was quiet now, and at first Lex thought he'd passed out, until he   
felt the hand that had been resting against his chest move slightly   
and begin to slowly circle his nipple. This was why he had decided   
to get himself kicked out of the school he'd attended with Harry.   
This was the main reason he normally kept in touch with him with   
an occasional email rather than an occasional visit. If Lex thought   
it would be comfort sex and nothing else, he would have no   
problem with it. But in school, Harry had convinced himself his   
hero-worship for Lex was really love. It hadn't made sense to save   
him from the bullies only to turn around and hurt him himself, so   
Lex had said no. He'd hoped Harry had outgrown his crush, but he   
wasn't taking any chances. Not now. Sitting up straight, Lex   
squeezed Harry's hand before putting it back on his own knee. No,   
but not rejection. "You need to get some sleep," he said, preparing   
to rise.   
  
"Help me kill him, Lex."  
  
Okay, that wasn't what he'd expected. He leaned back again and   
played for time. "Kill who?"   
  
"You know who," Harry snapped out. "That freak who murdered   
my father!"  
  
"You're tired. I doubt you've had any sleep in --"  
  
"Don't patronize me! If it was your mother, would you sleep?"  
  
Lex pushed the pain down and looked at him carefully. Was this   
what it took to finally make Harry fight back? Perhaps Norman   
Osborn would end up doing more for his son in death, than he ever   
had in life. Vengeance was a fine and noble tradition as far as Lex   
was concerned. A 1929 Chateau Mouton Rothschild of emotions,   
to be savored accordingly. Besides, from what little he'd read, he   
wasn't sure this Spiderman had killed Norman Osborn anyway.   
There was something strange about it all. Stranger than a man   
crawling on walls and apparently producing spider silk. But then,   
after a year in Smallville, his definition of the word was probably a   
bit warped. He made his decision.   
  
"Come here." He pulled a resisting Harry back into his arms.  
  
"No, damn it -- "  
  
"Shhh, listen to me." He stroked Harry's back again, waiting until   
he was at least marginally more relaxed. "I'll help you find out who   
killed --"  
  
"I know who did it! That fucking --"  
  
"Harry!" He waited until he had his attention. Lex never could   
resist a soft-eyed spaniel gaze, no matter what color the eyes were.   
"If Spiderman did it, then we'll find that out. Whoever did it, I'll   
find them. But only on one condition. You have to promise me not   
to do *anything* without discussing it with me first. If you want   
vengeance I won't stop you, but you have to discuss any plans with   
me first. Promise me, Harry." He shook him slightly for emphasis.   
The last thing Lex wanted was him going off half-cocked and   
killing the wrong guy. Or maybe even the right guy. He still wasn't   
sure Harry was strong enough to survive crossing the line that Lex   
himself still avoided. This would give him some time.   
  
"I promise. Thank you." His face crumpled like a wet Kleenex   
under his grief. "It's just . . . so unfair. It hurts so much. I'll kill him   
for this. I'll kill him . . ." He started crying again and buried his face   
against Lex's chest.   
  
"I know, Harry. I know." Lex held him and let him cry. He'd try to   
convince him to sleep again at the next lull. Contemplating the   
Spiderman dilemma, he decided to put Nixon on it. He'd been   
sniffing around the Kents too much lately anyway, and this would   
be a good diversion. And if Spiderman hadn't killed Osborn, and he   
could find some leverage on him, the rights to that spider silk alone   
would be worth billions. He considered for a moment if Osborn   
had attempted the same thing and been killed for it. It would be an   
interesting challenge anyway, he thought as he shifted into a more   
comfortable position on the sofa.   
  
Besides, Lex still needed to talk to Harry about his business   
proposition. Those decisions couldn't wait too long; the vultures   
were already circling. He would do a far better job of running   
Osborn's company than Harry, and he would make sure Harry kept   
enough stock to be set for life. After the funeral would be soon   
enough. "I'm here. I'll help you."  
  
  
End 


End file.
